Is Horizontal Web Design Here to Stay?

A year or so ago, anyone writing guidelines for designing websites would tell you that it was just not right to have a horizontal scroll bar on your page which your readers have to use to move from left to right on your page, and vice versa. Today however, horizontal web design is the new rage in the design business, but that’s not to say that the whole Internet is ready for this eccentric way of displaying your web site.

We’re used to vertical websites which have fixed width and vary in their length. Horizontal websites on the other hand, have a fixed (or variable) length and vary in their width – they must be moved from left to right and vice versa. It may be a new way to design web pages, but there are only a few kinds of sites that look good and which are convenient to use when designed horizontally.

If your site is mostly covered in text and is document-oriented, then it’s not wise to go in for a horizontal design. On the other hand, if your pages are covered in photographs and other forms of graphics, perhaps a horizontal design would make a bold statement and convince people that you’re trying to do something that’s positively different.

Not many people get horizontal websites, so you need to keep your audience in mind before you change your design and revamp it. If they’re young and trendy and ready to accept innovation in any form, then you’ve probably got a winner. But if they’re set in their ways and don’t find any kind of chance acceptable, you’re better off not experimenting with horizontal web design.

Another aspect that hinders the acceptance and viability of horizontal design is that computers come hardwired to scroll up and down, and when it comes to scrolling sideways, you have to rely on explicit commands or the use of the left/right keys.

But usability aspects aside, horizontal websites do make an impact – whether positive or negative, they ensure that a visitor takes notice of your website instead of treating it like one of the millions that reside online.

I am still not completely sold on horizontal web design. The examples you provided are great, but I find nine times out of ten, it just doesn’t work for me.

http://www.crearedesign.co.uk/ Jarkko Sibenberg

When scrolling horizontally, it gives this feeling like flipping through a book. Feels more like a journey and I think that’s different and refreshing. It has some charm in it but only works in special occasions. Perhaps in picture galleries for example and on sites with a lot of graphical content.

Maybe the sideways scrolling function seen in Mac mouses becomes a standard function in modern computers one day, and then we can enjoy more sites like these.

http://www.benstokesmarketing.co.uk Ben Stokes

I think these types of design will work well with more creative companys such as marketing etc, nice examples you have chosen.

http://www.psynai.com Imran A

I agree with the fact that horizontal layouts are only really suitable for websites with a small amount of copy and more graphical material, they work great for portfolios. I think Jarkko made a great point about the horizontal sites feeling like a book, but I just don’t like the idea of using horizontal scroll bars at all, it just feels somewhat unnatural. I used jQuery’s scrollTo and for my own site and I think it really works a treat, I really tried to capture a feeling of going on a journey from the home page to the ‘thanks for contacting me’ page

http://www.16i.co.uk/web-design.htm 16i

I agree with Ryan, and would add that these sites are not a blend of SEO/Accessibility/Compatibility – they are a huge swing in the design direction and are unbalanced from these other pespectives. Great as a landing page, but not much use as a standalone site if you want to make it accessible or SEO it.